North
Jersey Home Improvement Contractor Pleads
Guilty to Stealing More Than $75,000

TRENTON
– Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa
announced that a home improvement contractor
has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $75,000
by taking money from clients, including a
church in North Jersey, and failing to perform
the work for which he was paid.

Edward
Humphrey, 41, whose last known address was
in Blairstown, pleaded guilty on Tuesday
(May 29) to second-degree theft by deception
before Superior Court Judge Scott J. Moynihan
in Union County. The charge was contained
in a June 25, 2010 state grand jury indictment.

Judge
Moynihan scheduled sentencing for Aug. 3.
Humphrey faces a sentence of between three
and five years in state prison. Humphrey
will also be ordered to pay $188,000 in
restitution.

“People
who invest their hard-earned money in improving
their properties need to be able to trust
that the money will be put to proper use,”
Attorney General Chiesa said. “The
way that Mr. Humphrey conned his victims
is reprehensible. My office will continue
to crack down on unscrupulous contractors
who take advantage of those looking to improve
upon their properties.”

In
pleading guilty, Humphrey, who was a home
improvement contractor and consultant operating
the now-defunct Edward Humphrey, L.L.C.
out of a Kenilworth, admitted that between
March 8 and Sept. 7, 2005, he took deposit
checks from nine customers and failed to
perform the work for which he was paid.
An investigation by the Division of Criminal
Justice determined that the deposit monies
totaled $188,000.

Division
of Criminal Justice Director Stephen J.
Taylor noted that Deputy Attorney General
Mark Kurzawa represented the Division of
Criminal Justice at the guilty plea hearing.
The investigation was coordinated by Kurzawa
and Detectives John Neggia and Richard DaSilva